Special Collections Division: Nashville Banner Archives

These are non-circulating, closed-stack materials. Patrons wishing to access these materials should inquire at the service desk.

Banner Awards

The Banner Newspaper received a number of awards for community service, for outstanding work in the field of journalism. These awards are displayed in the Banner Archives area and in the Clipping File Room.

Banner Clippings

Clippings from both the Banner (afternoon) and Tennessean (morning) newspapers; consists of biographical and subject files, with the bulk of the collection dating from the 1950s to the early 1990s. Biographical files on several thousand persons constitute almost half of the collection, with the rest in subject files sorted primarily into three main series: Nashville, Davidson County, and Tennessee. The clippings files are included in a searchable, online database.

Banner Library (Morgue) Photographs Collection

Consist of printed photographs, wire photos, and some accompanying materials that were kept in the library of the newspaper called the "morgue." These files were compiled independently from the negative and transparency files that the photographers kept in their area. These files contain photos that were actually used in the paper, some of them shot by Banner photographers or Banner freelancers. However, many of the photographs were sent in by companies or groups for publicity purposes and were not shot by Banner staff. They are arranged alphabetically, primarily biography files.

Banner Photographic Negatives and Transparencies Collection

Consists of film ranging in sizes from 35mm to 4x5 shot by Banner photographers, It spans 1934 to 1998. The last two years are digital capture stored on CDs. The early section 1934-1949 is limited; after 1955 the photographers began to keep logbooks and a filing system by date. For research of an image, patrons must supply the photographers name and the publication date (which they would find when viewing clippings or microfilm).